


Eloped

by invisible_nerd_girl



Series: Random Sterek shorts [11]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Lydia angst, M/M, Past Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski, college students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:53:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28555668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisible_nerd_girl/pseuds/invisible_nerd_girl
Summary: Stiles eloped with Derek. The pack doesn't know because they never listened when the two tried to explain, until the day they noticed a ring.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Random Sterek shorts [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564270
Comments: 38
Kudos: 314





	Eloped

“You have a ring on your finger.” Scott pointed it out right in the middle of his bite. Stiles grunted to show that he heard. He completely forgot about it. He was in the middle of a greasy sandwich that was dripping sauce down his fingers so he was using a napkin between bites to clean up a little. He wanted to go home clean.

“Yeah. I’ve had it for a while now.” He wiggled it and took a sip of his drink. It wasn’t bad but he was kind of bummed that he was paying so much for something that he could make at home if he wanted to. Being in college really changed the way he looked at money. 

“It’s an engagement ring.” Kira gasped out and he narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Don’t be silly, Kira. It’s a wedding ring.” Cora scoffed, her eyes glinting with mischief and he gave up. There was no winning against a Hale starting shit. He learned it long ago to not even try.

“You’re married?” Scott stared at him and he blinked back. 

“Er, well. Yes. I eloped. I tried to tell you about it a few times but I guess I never got around to it. It’s not that Important. We were going to have a ceremony with everyone when I graduated.” He shrugged and went back to eating. 

“But you married.” He asked again and he looked around at the table of his pack. His family. He didn’t think that they didn’t know. He honestly thought they realized eventually. 

“Yeah. Shortly after the second dragon issue. I was hurt and… I just popped the question. We were married before the end of the week because it took a lot of convincing that I wanted it.” Stiles couldn’t help the smile on his face as he remembered the moment where Derek agreed. The look on his face, the utter trust that he had as they said their vows. It didn’t matter to him that they made them up on the spot in the middle of the court house. 

“Wait, isn’t that the same time you broke your bed?” Cora hissed and he turned to arch an eyebrow at her, knowing that she was there when they said their vows so she was just pushing the conversation to the awkward. He wasn’t surprised since they practically lived together. 

“Yeah, well, we couldn’t really afford a honeymoon.” He shrugged, winking at her so she’d cringe. He laughed low, seeing the way that she shuttered. Two could play that game but he turned to see the others staring at him in shock. 

“I can’t believe you’re married.” Lydia seemed calm but there was a way her eyes kept flickering that made him unsure if he should trust the tone of her voice. She straightened and hummed low, bringing her drink up for a sip like nothing was wrong. 

“Yeah, but like I told Scott, it happened shortly after one of our many life threatening adventures. We’ve been together for a while now and it was just… something. We were dating for a while and I’ve known them for a long while and…. I wanted to be married. To know that I had someone to come home to. It’s been great.” He paused to sip his lemonade, sighing in relief. Soon, very soon, the sugar would hit his veins and hopefully his growing headache would leave him. 

“But.. who?” Lydia asked softly and he turned to gaze at her in shock. He wasn’t expecting that. She was the smartest person he knew and while they weren’t very open about their relationship, they weren’t exactly hiding it. 

“You don’t know who I married?” He asked carefully, not sure that he was understanding her right. There was a short moment of silence as they all looked at each other and he realized with a mix of growing horror and utter glee that none of them had a clue. “Any of you?” He stared as everyone but Cora shook their head. The beta was snorting and wheezing into her hands in attempt to quiet herself but it was no use. People from other tables were staring at them now, more so when she fell out of her chair. Hitting the ground seemed to release what amount of control she had, and she burst out with raucous laughter. 

“Stiles, who did you elope with.” Scott was staring at him with his wide puppydog eyes but Stiles stood, already deciding on what he was going to do with the situation. 

“Listen all of you. I’ve been dating this person for almost two years. If you have no idea who I married, then it’s up to you to find out. Hey, I’ll even give you a hint.” He downed the rest of his lemonade, almost instantly regretting it from the brain freeze he got and wrapped his sandwich up. He swooped over and grabbed Coras arm, dragging her to her feet with some difficultly but then she was slouched against his side. 

“I have to pee.” She hissed in his ear and he groaned, dragging her to the bathroom. 

“What’s the hint?” Isaac shouted after them but he turned and flashed them a sharp smile before ducking around the corner that hid the bathroom and exit. He shoved her through the appropriate door and leaned against the wall. It was easy to ignore the stares as he pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to his husband about the turn of events. A second passed where he stared at the phone in his hands before it rang. 

“Hey.” He grinned, his heart picking up a beat in anticipation at the fact that he was about to hear his voice. 

“Are you serious?” Derek growled out and his grin grew. Stiles hummed low, nodding as he peeked around the corner. Their pack was in the middle of a deep discussion and not paying him any mind. 

“Yeah, they have no idea. I mean, jeez, it’s like they were blind for the past three maybe four years.” He shook his head and went back to leaning against the wall. “I did elope with you but come on.” 

“Wait, does this mean your dad doesn’t know?” Derek suddenly sounded guilty and he froze. 

“Oh shit. I don’t know. I can tell him…. Er, well. Maybe he thinks I just took up a new fashion of rings? I can’t exactly tell him it’s a promise ring when it’s obviously a wedding ring.” He looked at it on his fingers before letting out a groan. 

“Hey, I’m good now.” Cora bounced to his side, once again looking perfect without a hair out of place. 

“Cool,” He nodded to her, reaching up to wrap an arm around her shoulders as they slipped from the shop. His sandwich dangled from his fingers and he realized that she might plan on stealing it later. “Hey Der, we’re on our way over. We can figure out how to handle this with my dad. I totally forgot to tell him.” 

“What? Oh God Stiles, what the Hell?” Cora grabbed his phone from his hands and he let her. “You married a moron.” 

“Hey!” He protested weakly, but at least his father knew that he was dating and approved of it. He made a noise in the back of his throat and shook his head at her. 

“He says he knows.” Cora shot a smirk at him and he rolled his eyes. 

“He knows he’s lucky.”  
==================================================  
There was a major project for one of his last few classes for his degree and decided to hang out at Lydia’s apartment instead of his since she didn’t have roommates and his did. They were good people, who were also very much in love with each other. And had sex with each other and it wasn’t something he wanted to deal with. Derek wasn’t home but Cora was, meaning he could study in the pack house. 

He was sitting at the counter with his laptop, his fingers flying across the keys as he concentrated. It was something of a miracle for him to have the peace and somewhat quiet to work by. Lydia was standing in front of the coffee maker, watching it intention as she waited for it to ding so she could have her morning dose. 

“Stiles?” She grumbled low, sounding a little like she was drugged and when he glanced up he saw she wasn’t looking much better. For a single heartbeat he wondered if she was going to ask what’s a Stiles before snapping back to the moment. 

“Yeah?” He went back to work, abet a little slower than before as he kept some of his attention on her to hear what was so important that it happened before coffee. He had his several hours ago, but Lydia hadn’t had hers yet. 

“Who did you marry?” She murmured, her fist slipping from where it was resting on her chin so her face was partially squished. 

“You still don’t know?” He sat back, giving her his entire attention and she shot a dirty look at him. 

“How would I know? I thought you were single. Like me.” She looked more than a little ticked off and he slowly reached forward to close his laptop. He took a second to save his work before it clicked off. 

“Lydia, I’ve dated them for three years. We talked about the possibly of marriage but wanted to wait to be out of school.” He stared at her and wondered once again how she didn’t know. 

“We were dating three and a half years ago!” She narrowed her eyes at him. For a second he wondered what that had to do with anything before frowning. 

“We broke up three and a half years ago.” He clarified. It was true. They made it to college but then they looked around and agreed to take a break so they could explore with a little more freedom. He originally agreed because Lydia made it seem like they were still going to be something. But then a two months in he saw that all she was doing was taking the time to sleep around and talked to him less and less until he went to a bar where she was. He saw the way she acted with her new friends, watching as she fiddled with her phone and instantly received a text from her telling him that she was studying at home so he shouldn’t bother swinging by.

A few days later he and Derek went to bar to try to make him feel better, hopping around until they wondered into a gay bar. Almost instantly Derek was hit on. They managed to shoo off most of the fans but one was persistent, even trying to grab Derek’s ass. Stiles, too busy keeping his post breakup emotions in check, promptly lost his temper and decked the man. The fight was a short one. Stiles spent years surviving supernatural attempts on his life and the pack and the guy looked like a desk jockey. The stranger didn’t last thirty seconds but no one was happy with them.

Once they were chucked out of the bar, he ran with Derek until they made it to their apartment. Stiles ranted the entire way that the man was rude and how dare he lay a finger on Derek without his consent and he’s lucky Derek pulled him out of the bar before they could get any worse. The next morning Derek made his breakfast and coffee, thanking him for the night out. Somehow, they left the house holding hands and dating and he was too hungover to remember properly what he said to manage it. 

“But… I thought we were…. I thought you were mine.” Lydia broke into his thoughts and he realized he had a smile on his face and he shook himself. 

“Lydia, what did you think would happen when we broke up?” He managed to keep his voice soft without a touch of sarcasm. He really was growing as a person. 

“That we’d have our fun and eventually get back together. That’s what was supposed to happen. We got to experiment with ourselves but we would have each other.” She spun to look at him fully this time and he cringed, seeing the hurt and pain in her red rimmed eyes that were slowly filling with tears. 

“Lydia, you still were the one who broke up with me. I took my time looking around and found I wanted him.” He sighed low. Maybe if she had been clearer, he would’ve been dumb enough to wait for her while she had her fun. But he remembered the feeling in his gut when she lied to him to his face and thought she could find her way back to him. The fact that she thought he would still wait for her when it felt like he was just apart of collection she put on a shelf. Derek saw him as his… anchor. And they worked together on their relationship and it was nice. 

“But…. He? Are you gay?” She shook her head like she was confused, glancing around rapidly. 

“No. Apparently I’m Bi. I always knew I thought he was hot and that I would’ve… experimented with him, and then we broke it off and he was there and… We were in danger together and we got out. I married him because there was nothing that I wanted more.” He got up and walked around the table, pulling her around so he could plant a kiss on her forehead. 

“But… I just can’t think of who” She looked at him as the tears finally started to fall. Annoyance washed over him and he narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Lydia, who have I always talked about. Who I trust more than anyone in my life and is a man who wouldn’t go gushing to you about marrying me because they, you know, have some class?” He saw the flinch. He hated that a small part of him was gleeful that she was showing him that she regretted what she did. 

“Why him?” She hissed low and he arched his eyebrow at her. 

“Are you serious?” He glowered before throwing his hands into the air. It didn’t take him long to realize that he didn’t want to have this conversation with her. He could see the protests, the insults that were about to be leveled at his husband as if there was a single argument that she could form.

“Look, Lyds. I love you. I do. But you are not him. When we were a couple, it was always me taking care of your needs and wants. I spent my entire time trying to please instead of just being. Things with Derek, it’s different. He took the time to know me, and listens to me when everyone else is ignoring my input. And I’m hella Bi for him.” Stiles packed everything he needed into his work bag and nodded to her. Part of him wanted to give her a hug but he wasn’t sure if she would let him go. 

“Stiles, I still don’t understand.” She stared at him, making him shake his head at her. 

“That’s the problem. You said you knew me, but you don’t know me enough to know why I chose him. I always choose him, or go back for him, or lie out my ass to protect him.” He left her standing in the kitchen. It hurt. A lot. But he didn’t expect things to be alright. The others didn’t know. He wasn’t sure how they’d take it when the truth came out. 

He reached his car and clambered in, jamming the key in the ignition before freezing. The hair stood on the back of his neck and he slowly dropped his other hand to his door where he hid a crowbar. 

“Hey,” Derek popped up into the passenger seat, making him jump and squeal. The wolf just laughed as he closed the door behind him, his eyes alight with everything that made him pop the question that made them elope. It was amazing, and still gave him butterflies in his stomach and brought a giddy smile to his face. 

“You’re an ass.” He started his car and twisted to buckle his seatbelt. “And I thought you were back home. Weren’t you training with my dad to be, er, an assistant to the police force there?” He went about backing up.

“Cora called.” Derek stated simply but he instantly started translating what that meant from Derek to normal person to Stiles before shaking his head. 

“She wants to do something about the pack not knowing we’re married.” He asked, seeing a flash of a smile on his face when he got it right. 

“She wants to prank them and tell them it’s someone famous or that it’s Peter.” Derek broke out in a booming laugh when Stiles swerved the car and nearly curbed it from his disgusted shivers running up and down his body at the mention of his husbands uncle. 

“Oh my lord. Please tell me she didn’t start anything yet. I don’t want them to think I stooped that low.” He stopped at a red light and looked around to make sure no cops saw him making a fool of himself. This wasn’t the time to get pulled over for bad driving. 

“She hasn’t. I made sure. I came here to see what you wanted to do about it. I also…. Told your dad.” He ducked his head down as Stiles whipped around to stare at him in shock. His old man knew they were a thing, just not that they married. He was still getting used to all the supernatural issues that came up in town, hence, Derek’s job. 

“Why?” He jerked around when there was a horn and realized that the light had turned green. He quickly went about his way, choosing to pull into a gas station for a cheap cup of coffee.

“Well, Scott called him and basically blurted everything out to the entire station. On speakerphone. After being told that he was on speakerphone and that the Sheriff was in the middle of an announcement with the entire station.” Derek explained as they exited the car and even held the door open for him as they headed into the rather large store for being a gas stop. 

“Are you serious? He not only told my father but the entire police station, where I grew up, that I eloped?” He cried out, burring his face in his hands. There was a loud snort from nearby and an older women was glowering at what he assumed were her teenage children who were busy trying to cover their laughter. 

“Coffee? I’ll pay.” Derek tugged him away as he groaned in embarrassment before letting himself be moved. They fixed up their coffee in silence and he pulled out his phone, checking his messages to see that he had several from the pack. There was nothing from his father but a single missed call and his stomach flipped. 

“I’m so fucking dead. He’s called. I missed his call. When did this happen?” He turned to see Derek smiling at him and relaxed. 

“Earlier this morning. Don’t worry about it. Half the station figured it out before he even hung up.” He nudged him toward the door and waved pointedly at the teenagers who looked a mixed between abashed and gleeful. The mother smacked one while the other fled into the car while cackling. Stiles opened his mouth to tell him to knock it off when his keys were swiped from his pocket and he didn’t bother to protest. He crawled into the passenger seat and sipped his coffee, feeling it burn his mouth with a vengeance that told him that the rest of his day was going to be much like this. 

“How did they figure it out?” He breathed out the question and leaned back in the seat as Derek backed the car up. 

“Uh, I tried to hide my hands. The wedding ring.” Derek held it up and he closed his eyes with a sigh. 

“You tried to hide your wedding ring, while in the middle of a conversation of who married me, in a room full of cops that know what a guilty person looks like.” Stiles didn’t bother to open his eyes as Derek hummed low. 

“But I am guilty of marrying you.” Stiles smiled as his hand was lifted up and the back of it kissed. 

“Where are we going?” He asked softly, blinking sadly when he realized that they were close to home. With another groan, he clung to the hand.

“What’s wrong? You’re off about something.” Derek rubbed his thumb over his knuckles and he turned to look at him. 

“Lydia isn’t taking it well. Apparently she thought we were gonna get married after college after she was done hooking up with others.” He didn’t bother to keep his annoyance out of his voice but he could tell it hit a chord with his Alpha. 

“So I take it she didn’t respond well to you being married.” His tone betrayed his emotions even as he tried to cover them up. 

“She wasn’t happy. I didn’t even think about it. She…. She acted like nothing had changed, that we hadn’t grown at all since freshmen year in college. Since we broke up, I moved on. I was done waiting and you…” Stiles turned in his seat and waited for the flickered glance that was shot his way. It was hard to have a heart to heart conversation while driving but Derek was better at keeping them on the road then he was. “Der, you and I, we became something. I’m so happy I married you and I don’t care what the pack has to say about it. They all listen to us, and she can either come around or she can fuck off.” 

“Stiles, she’s a banshee. We’d do best not to piss her off.” Despite what he said, Derek was grinning happily. 

“Yeah, and I’m your husband. She should know better than question my devotion to you and piss me off.” He tried his coffee again and smiled. It was enough to help for the rest of his day. “Oh, I need to finish editing.” He pulled out his laptop, balancing it precariously on his knees as Derek drove on. He was instantly entranced as Derek muttered a few of the points from the rubric that he shouldn’t miss. Like editing the works cited and professors names. He was finishing the last touches as they pulled up to the police station and he saved. Leaning automatically over, he pressed a kiss to his cheek before hopping out. 

“I’m not just dropping you off.” Derek slipped out, a faint blush on his cheeks as two deputies cooed near them with massive grins on their faces. “I have to work here.” Derek hissed at him but Stiles grinned, taking a moment to flip the deputes off before grabbing his husbands elbow and dragging him into the precinct. 

“Sperm doner” He bellowed out and everyone froze. “I have brought word. I have married.” He lifted one hand in the air like he won something, the other holding their hands with their rings bared next to it, taking a moment to point at it their hands for emphasis. Derek sighed heavily, covering his eyes with his free hand but he could see that he was grinning. 

“I know.” He cringed when he heard his fathers no nonsense tone but the grin didn’t vanish. At best, it turned bashful. 

“It was… spontaneous. You already knew we were dating!” Stiles called across and Derek jerked him forward, dragging him across the workroom until they could be shoved into the Sheriffs office. 

“So how spontaneous?” His father narrowed his eyes at him but there wasn’t actually anger in his eyes. 

“Well, a dragon ago. It’s a bad way to tell time but that’s what I’m sticking too. It was around one in the morning, so you were sleeping.” He waved his hands in front of him before smiling at him. “We’re already planning a ceremony for the family when I finally graduate.” He finished quickly, grinding his mouth shut. His farther was a great interrogator, and he wasn’t always immune to it, so the silent, expectant stare. 

“Derek, when did this happen?” He turned to the wolf who somehow looked like a deer in the headlights, glancing at him with a panicked yet begging face. 

“Uh, I’m going to…” He backed away, stepping out of the office. Before the door closed there was shouting and whooping from the other deputies and Stiles pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at the way the back of his husbands neck turned bright red. 

“Son.” It was a mere statement, yet a clear warning that he better start talking. 

“Yes, I eloped. Dad, it’s just…. I saw him get thrown. It was bad and I didn’t walk away unscathed from it.” He made sure to be a little vague but they both knew what he was talking about. If anyone over heard, they’d have no clue what he was talking about, only that they were hurt. 

“Then?” His father was calmer, relaxing from the stiff stance he was in. 

“Then, we got everyone home, patched them up. I was driving home and sort of asked him. He said I had to wait at first, not be rash, and then I asked him everyday after that until he agreed and I drove him to the court house that same hour and married him. It’s just… the lives we live and seeing the possibility of one of us not coming back, I decided I wanted him as mine. For whatever we have left. I guess he felt the same.” He shrugged, chuckling low as he rubbed the back of his head with a smile on his face. 

“I get it, I do. But why didn’t you tell me?” His father asked with a somewhat broken look on his face that caused guilt to rush over him, making him duck his head again. 

“Honestly, I didn’t think to. I had my Derek. You two were getting along fine and College Midterms were scheduled the week afterward. I honestly thought I called you and told you but I was also so tired that I forgot. It had nothing to do with me not wanting to tell you, but we were just married and everything was still moving along.” He struggled to completely explain all that happened. There was still a massive amount of supernatural stuff occurred that took up what little time he had left that wasn’t spent with Derek or reviewing. The work paid off when he nearly aced everything that was put in front of him. It was amazing for him, yet he could still see the confusion on his fathers face. 

“Look, I know it doesn’t make sense because there wasn’t anything that massively changed. I still live with him most of the time or the dorms. I still go to work, and school and we have our dinners together. I mean, it took the pack this long to even realize that I’m married. They don’t even know who too yet.” He gave him a meaningful look, watching with growing glee the completely offended yet disturbed way his father stared at him. 

“They don’t know you two are a thing?” He asked in a loud whisper. Stiles shook his head, shrugging his shoulders while shaking his head at the ridiculousness of it all. 

“We thought they would catch on, made a game of it.” He blushed, knowing that his father was going to think that it was him who started it when it was really Derek who wanted to screw with everyone to see how long they could go. It was too long now. 

“You have until the end of the day before I tell Scott, then he will blurt it out to everyone else.” His father gave him the parent look and he nodded. Lydia already knew so she might have already told the others. 

“Yeah, got it. Games over. I’ll just go do that.” He ducked forward to hug him quickly, flashing a last smile as he slipped from his office. 

“Thank goodness.” Derek grabbed his arm this time, pulling him along like he weighted nothing. In all reality, he weighted close to that when Derek was concerned but he didn’t care. It was enjoyable that he could drag Derek around just as easily. 

“Did you hear everything?” He hissed as they fled out the door, a few deputies shouting something and he waved them off as they exited. 

“Yeah, I’ll call a pack meeting.” He grumbled it out but there was both a flicker on anticipation and dread at the same time. 

“Huh, you know, we can totally make fun of them for this.” Stiles reached out to hold his hand for a second before pulling out his phone. 

“How? That they didn’t notice.” Derek snipped at him, the stress from everything turning him more than a little bitchy. 

“No, that they did.” Stiles arched his eyebrow at him as his phone rang. A second later Boyd picked up. “Hey man. Pack meeting at the house. Right now. Tell the others.” He turned and smirked at his husband. 

“On it.” Boyd hung up and he shoved it in his pocket. 

“He….He treated you like you’re my mate.” Derek stared at him blankly and he nodded along. 

“It’s been happening this entire time. Nothing changed by us openly being together, just that they know and not just…er, their wolves.” His short speech fizzled at the end, making him cringe slightly. 

“Lets just go.” He pulled out of the parking lot but there was a growing smile on his face as they made their way home. It was Stiles as much as Dereks now, which was another reason against the pack for not realizing sooner. 

“Do you think we should just tell them outright or what?” Stiles spoke after a while and Derek jerked his chin toward him without taking his eyes off the road. He watched as he drummed his fingers along the steering wheel before flashing a smile at him. 

“We can…” He started but Stiles already pointed a warning finger at him. 

“We are not making them think that we’re cheating with each other. I know it’s funny, but they are already feeling hurt from this. They’re…. they’re our pack. We’re already in the rough with this.” Derek frowned at him before nodding along, grunting after a minute and they fell back into silence. Stiles was too brain dead from finals week to really come up with anything other than telling them all straight out and not giving two shits what the pack thinks. Not even his coffee seemed to help, making him more tired than awake.

By the time they made it to the pack house, Derek had to shake him awake. He grumbled angrily, doing his best to get out while he was in the middle of a large stretch, trying to work out the tenseness in his muscles from sleeping in the car. It wasn’t comfortable as he liked and part of him was ready to walk right past the pack and go straight to bed. Derek somehow nudged him up the steps and safely into the living room where most of the pack was waiting. 

“What happened? Is he alright?” Scott was pacing, his hands fluttering around and Stiles rubbed one eye as he watched. Derek’s hand was still on his shoulder while the rest of the pack stood at the ready. 

“I’m fine. I fell asleep in the car on our way over. It’s been a day. My dad threatened to tell everyone who I married if I didn’t.” His speech was broken by a yawn so he couldn’t finish but the pack was somehow more intent on what was happening in that moment. He huffed, knowing that if it was a threat they wouldn’t even be half as interested. 

“Who is it?” Boyd was looking between the two of them, staring close at the hand still on his shoulder. 

“Take a guess.” He smirked at him, seeing a growing understanding in the Seconds eyes. 

“Who?” Scott glanced around and was promptly smacked. 

“Oh my god.” Stiles buried his face in hands before heaving a sigh. 

“Scott, Stiles and I eloped. We’ve been dating for a few years. We honestly thought you all knew.” Dereks face was open and honest, and Stiles knew that his heart didn’t skip a beat. He couldn’t help the proud smile that spread across his face as he turned to look at him. 

“Cora knew so that’s why she was laughing so hard at the restaurant.” Stiles explained, lifting his hands up at their shocked silent faces and he realized Cora was the only one who wasn’t still processing. 

“I wasn’t laughing that they didn’t know, or well, I was, but it was also because they were treating you like an alpha the entire time and none of you even realized that the two of them were mates. I mean, look at them.” She waved her hand at them, turning her words to the other pack members and less toward him. 

“Derek did smile.” Erica muttered, ticking of her fingers silently while she mouthed the words but then she was shaking her head. “I don’t know how many times. We must have lost count.” 

“And Stiles is a good pick. Not like any of the others.” Boyd shot a pointed look at him before bursting out in laughter. Stiles groaned as the rest of the pack picked up, snorting and eventually falling into a puppy pile. Derek was dragged into it and went willingly, letting the others play. Scott managed to make his way across and grabbed his arm. Doubt rushed through him as he stared at his brother but then he was getting a hug. 

“Please tell me these things. I know you have a reason to think I wouldn’t take it well but I’m happy for you both.” Scott whispered in his ear and something in Stiles unwound the stress that he was under from that moment, so he ended up leaning heavily into it. 

“Thank you Scott. You’re definitely coming to the ceremony we’ll be having.” He held on, suddenly utterly grateful that he had his family near him, that they were understanding when he blanked on things. He would never regret the person who he married, but he did regret not having his family there with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think.


End file.
